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Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

Perkel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
15,810
I think that the ending is totally changed / expanded in the Definitive edition.

Also, looking at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1x9kY01OSE

It seems that better quest tracker is one of the improvements. It should probably help with those fetch quest and cryptic requirements Grampy_Bone mentioned before.

Holy shit that is huge improvement over vanilla. Now quest markers literally point you area where those fetch quest are. Normally i don't like quest markers but Xenoblade is filled with fetch quests and you don't know which one will lead to story bits so imho it is ok.

the ending makes perfect sense

It makes sense and it is perfectly understandable but the point is that game didn't need that ending.
But it is common trope with Japanese games to explain literally everything.
 

Dyskolos

Cipher
Joined
Apr 19, 2006
Messages
571
Location
Eumeswil
Should I play this one before the second? Something of a story question but more if there are system and quality of life improvements in the second that are hard to go back from. I'd gotten about 10 hours into 2 a few years back and was generally enjoying it but dropped it for some reason and just never went back.
 

Perkel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
15,810
Didn't play X2 but i don't think there are any QOL over X2.
Remember that XCX wa after X1 and it was fucking piece of junk when it came to QOL.
 

Jenkem

その目、だれの目?
Patron
Vatnik
Joined
Nov 30, 2016
Messages
8,846
Location
An oasis of love and friendship.
Make the Codex Great Again! Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I helped put crap in Monomyth
Should I play this one before the second? Something of a story question

definitely

Remember that XCX wa after X1 and it was fucking piece of junk when it came to QOL.
complete lies. the way non-story/side story quests were handled, the amount of customization available/fashion slots, the quest ball that worked with the terrain, faster movement/better jumping, etc.
 

Perkel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
15,810
complete lies. the way non-story/side story quests were handled, the amount of customization available/fashion slots, the quest ball that worked with the terrain, faster movement/better jumping, etc.

You are trolling or you are high as fuck.

Complete lack of knowing where to find some monsters or places in map that is 100s times bigger than X1 map. And if you by chance took side-quest from character that has some little story you are REQUIRED to finish that quest until you can progress any other story quest.

Which means like in my case i had to search for 5 hours some stupid lake on one continent which could spawn that monster at night and even then you had to specifically target that squid back tentacle to get rare drop you can't get in 10-15 fights which means that you could easily never find it and basically dead end your game right there.

Talking with characters ? Another huge "improvement". X1 had small bases so you could easily find anyone. XCX has huge megacity taht going from end to end takes several minutes MOREOVER NPCs are not only in city this time but they are also on map. Want to find someone for interaction ? You just have to scour everyplace on every continent GOOD FUCKING LUCK.

And there is the UI and general QOL. Want to move camera faster SURE YOU CAN ! outside but not in buildings ! Now you need only to wait few seconds to turn camera 180 degree.

The only improvement over X1 is combat system which imho has more systems to it but on other hand equipment but it is not huge improvement. Moreover its equipment system is wacky as shit and not that good compared to more simple X1 equipment system. Sometimes more isn't better.
 
Joined
Oct 9, 2015
Messages
2,095
Location
DFW, Texas
My god, the combat in these games is so fucking tedious. I really wanted to like them but there's just so damn much HP bloat and no way to speed things up.
 

Perkel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
15,810
It is not that bad in XC1. XCX does have a lot of bloat but it is still managable.
 
Joined
Nov 22, 2018
Messages
289
I didn't get to play the original XBC, just XBCX and XBC2, so this gives me much excite.

I didn't care at all for XBCX, but it sure was pretty. XBC2 was one of the best RPGS of the last decade and doesn't get nearly enough love except for tons of porn thanks to the outrageous female character designs. Hopefully XBC is more like XBC2 than XBCX. Lots of cool story, amazing locations, and depth hiding behind cuteness.

Got my Super Duper Special Edition preordered!

Edit: speling is hard
 
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Talby

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Mar 15, 2008
Messages
5,507
Codex USB, 2014
XBC2 was one of the best RUGS of the last decade

RUGS? I can't find any explanation of that.
custom_traditional_iranian_carpets_shop_in_vakil_bazaar_shiraz_iran_lrg.jpg
 

Perkel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
15,810
Almost playable on latest yuzu build. It gets to full speed but often drops frames a lot like if something went wrong. With few updates to yuzu this will be 100% perfect. Moreover due to recent updates they fixed graphics for Xenoblade 2 but like in XC1 after a while game starts to stutter, probably some memory leak.
 

cruel

Cipher
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
856
I couldn't resist and got the game today. If the combat is actually good, I think I will like it - need something to chill out after 110+ hours of Nioh 2.
 

cruel

Cipher
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
856
I started playing this and it seems all of you were right - combat is not bad at all. Looks very simple at the first glance, but surprising depth underneath. I just hope it won' become a clusterfuck later, when I need to quickly choose arts in real time.

Other than that, very good impressions. Fantastic music, attention to detail, many QoL improvements (quick travel via Landmarks), interface makes sense, etc. The only downside, not caused by the game itself, is that it feels like Switch is under-powered to handle it properly - everything looks OK, but one can only imagine how would it look on PS4 Pro or good PC. Really hoping they will release a more powerful Switch this year, we'll see.

BTW, the game sits on 9.3 user score on Metacritic now:
https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/xenoblade-chronicles-definitive-edition

Highest rated game of 2020 so far, and one of the highest user ranking I've ever seen. Impressive.
 
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Aquinas

Literate
Joined
Jun 20, 2020
Messages
5
Location
America
Something that's really interesting to me about XC1 specifically is how it handles Gnostic ideas in it's story. Spoilers, so don't read until you actually beat the game. I think beating the game is one hundred percent worthwhile, if you're willing to put in a lot of time to do so.
The game is heavily based on Gnostic ideas, but if you're into the Xeno series of games already, that's not new. What is new is how it takes those ideas, but almost completely separates it from Christianity. In Xenosaga, the Christian inspiration is clear as day, and the same would be true of later entries like XC2, if not for the translation job removing most of it. But XC1 has the Gnostic ideas and themes, without any of the real world religion being core to the plot.

The most important part of that is the Monado. Quick rundown for people who don't know about Gnostic stuff, the Monad is a way to refer to the "true" Creator, who is typically depicted as the spiritual light of Creation. The closer someone's soul is to the Monad, the more enlightened they are. The physical world was made by the Demiurge, a being that was born far from the Monad, and didn't know about the Light, so he created the world and seeded it with life, whose souls are fragments of the Light. The Demiurge isn't good for doing this, since Gnostic faith usually portrays the spirit as good, and physical reality as bad. Instead, the Demiurge is considered misguided, creating the world in search of companionship by selfishly trapping souls away from the true Light. The goal of life is to find Gnosis, or divine knowledge, and reconnect your soul to the Monad's light.

This stuff is almost exactly how Xenoblade's plot is structured. Zanza used the Monado's light to create Bionis, desperate for friendship, but arrogantly believing his creations were bound to him like slaves. Shulk's power is made stronger by unlocking more of the Monado's light, and eventually, he rejects Zanza to find his own Monado, which is both the actual sword, and the Light of Creation in it's true, spiritual form. The only difference in ideas is that Xenoblade, like Monolithsoft's other games, sees the physical world as having value, and so Shulk rejects the idea of being controlled by a god, or becoming a god to rule over others. Instead, he creates a world without gods, so that people can live in peace with each other, not as slaves to a divine will.

I think it's really good stuff. I'm biased in that I look into history, theological history being one of the areas of interest, so this application of Gnostic philosophy being more than window dressing gets me excited. But I hope that people who didn't know about that connection can appreciate Xenoblade's plot more because of that.
 

Perkel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
15,810
yeah music and environment of Xeno1 is really great mix. My favorite is colony9 at night and just swiming randomly. Also they apparently fucked up it in DE because it is sounds differently without iconing instrument that makes it great.

Here is original either way:

 

Perkel

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
15,810
complete lies. the way non-story/side story quests were handled, the amount of customization available/fashion slots, the quest ball that worked with the terrain, faster movement/better jumping, etc.

Does that quest ball point you to monster from which you need to farm some rare thing in order to progress side quest ? No. Camera is atrocious inside buildings. Side-quests lock you out from progressing main story even if you can't finish them because you need to find some rare part from monster and you don't know where to look because game doesn't tell you anything even direction where you should look.
 

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